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Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard given final approval by UK CMA

The final roadblock in the way of Microsoft's biggest gaming acquisition to date appears to have finally been cleared.

Ozzie Mejia

October 12, 2023 11:37 PM

Xbox

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It has been a long road for the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but one of the final roadblocks appears to have been cleared. Late Thursday evening (early Friday in the United Kingdom), the UK's Competition and Markets Authority formally approved the acquisition.

Here's the full statement from Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick:

Team,

Today the CMA, the regulatory authority in the UK, approved our transaction with Microsoft.

We now have all regulatory approvals necessary to close and we look forward to bringing joy and connection to even more players around the world.

Our board chair Brian Kelly and I are incredibly proud of all of you and your accomplishments over the last four decades. We’re excited for our next chapter together with Microsoft and the endless possibilities it creates for you and for our players.

With gratitude,

Bobby

As noted by the CMA, the final concession involved Microsoft ceding Activision's cloud streaming rights in the United Kingdom to Ubisoft.

"With the sale of Activision's cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, we’ve made sure Microsoft can’t have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market," said CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell. "As cloud gaming grows, this intervention will ensure people get more competitive prices, better services and more choice. We are the only competition agency globally to have delivered this outcome."

Earlier this summer, Microsoft prevailed in its case against the FTC, which had been seeking to block the deal. An appeal from the FTC to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit was swiftly denied.

The road is now clear for Microsoft to close the deal to pick up the publisher that holds the rights to such gaming franchises as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Crash Bandicoot, and many more. The Microsoft/Xbox camp has yet to comment on the CMA's approval. There are also some big questions that lie ahead, including what happens to the aforementioned Bobby Kotick and the rest of Activision's leadership under the Xbox umbrella. We'll be sure to watch those and other stories here at Shacknews.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?